


Fallen from the Sky

by DoodlebugQT



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Custody Arrangements, Family Angst, Family Drama, Family Fluff, Force Bonds, Force Visions, Minor Character Deaths, is it kidnapping if they're your kids?, space travel, survival situations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2020-12-16 19:37:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21041663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoodlebugQT/pseuds/DoodlebugQT
Summary: Leia Organa is seven years old on a diplomatic field trip with one of her many tutors to a neighboring planet. Without warning their ship is struck down by pirates. Her teacher is killed instantly leaving Leia stranded on an alien world with only her protocol droid Threepio for company. Leia wastes no time in scavenging the ship for supplies, doing her best to stretch it all as long as she can, but the days are passing one after another and food and the remaining energy is running low. Truly desperate, her force sensitivity kicks in and she calls into the night for help from anyone who can hear her. Two people receive her desperate cry. One, an excited young boy her age on a distant planet called Tatooine, another, a shadowy figure that fills the young girl with dread.





	1. Stranded

Leia’s head was throbbing horribly when she finally came to and a terrible ringing was coming from her ears. She couldn’t remember much of what had happened. Professor Zanoo, her diplomacy teacher, wanted to take her for a small field trip to Trul, to examine how he negotiated with an estranged friend of his. It was supposed to be a quick lesson, but something had happened as they were nearing the planet. She remembered her teacher calling out about another ship. She remembered him trying to hail them to stop firing. And then…

Her head snapped up as she turned to the controls of the ship, spotting her teacher slouched against them.

“Professor Zanoo? Professor Zanoo!” Leia unstrapped her seatbelt to rush to his side. Desperately, she shook her Bothan teacher hard hoping against hope that he was merely knocked unconscious, but her fears were soon realized when she noticed just how awkwardly his head bobbed off of his neck. She placed her hand against his long snout and waited to feel air, but there was nothing, she couldn’t feel his breath. As a last-ditch effort, her ear pressed to his chest, waiting for the accompanying “Th-thump” of his heartbeat.

There was nothing.

Dead. Her tutor in diplomacy was dead.

She jerked away, stunned to be looking at the recently alive teacher before her. Death happened often in the galaxy, but this was the first time the young princess had ever seen a dead body in her life. The first time she was experiencing death in general. It was… so final, so terrifying.

“Princess! Princess!” Her head turned to see C-3PO entering through the cockpit, clear worry in his tone, and who wouldn’t have been after such a terrifying crash landing. “Princess are you alright?” She looked towards him and he caught sight of the tear tracks on her face. “O-oh. Your highness, is Zanoo…?”

“Dead.” She announced before the protocol droid could finish. “Professor Zanoo is dead.”

“Oh dear!” The droid came closer, placing a gentle metal hand on her shoulder in condolence. “I am so sorry, Princess Leia. I do wish you time to grieve but there is still the matter of the brutes who shot us down.”

Leia wiped her eyes on her sleeve and nodded, collecting herself. There would be a time to morn later. She needed to think about the persistent threat at hand. Their safety could not be put off. For a princess, duty needed to come first. She might have been a young princess but she was still a princess.

“Right.” She followed the droid out of the cockpit.

“We’ve thankfully landed on a world with an atmosphere so the air is breathable.” Threepio announced unlocking the pod-bay doors. That was about the only good news though. The planet may have had air to breath but it looked like that was about it. All that laid before the princess’s eyes was a land of stone and not even interesting stone, like mountains or caverns or cliffs or anything. It was just a flat rock of nothing. And above was nothing as well. Only a ceiling of grey cloud. The world was nothing but two distinctive lines of light grey and dark grey distinguishing between the floor and the ceiling of the little world they were trapped on, nothing more. And their ship, which was reduced to the broken shell before them, a small white blot on the shaded canvas.

“Where are we?” Leia asked the protocol droid frightfully.

“If we were headed to the Trul system for a small lesson in negotiation, as Zanoo intended, then perhaps we are on one of their moons.”

“How many moons does it have?”

“One hundred and forty-one.”

“One hundred and forty-one?!”

“There used to be one hundred and forty-five, but the last four have suffered severe meteorite damage in the last decade and were destroyed.”

“Do you know what shot us down? Or who?”

“I do not, your highness. Have you any thoughts?”

Leia racked her brain to remember the last few moments before their ship had nosedived directly into this strange empty world. “I think Zanoo said something about someone named Ithano right when we were being fired at.”

“Ithano? Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! This is most dire!”

“What? Who is it?”

“Pirates, Princess! We must conceal the ship quickly!”

“Pirates?” Leia was both terrified and inspired by the thought, but the last feeling didn’t last so long as she was reminded of Professor Zanoo’s fate. “How can we hide the ship?”

“I don’t know! Oh dear! Oh dear!”

Leia followed Threepio back on board rushing to the cockpit. In a blind attempt, she tried to start it again, but the engine made no response to her efforts. She groaned desperately, wishing she was better at engine maintenance. Yes, their ship had taken a beating, but perhaps it could have been fixed, if only she knew how. And the worst was it was probably something really simple, like a loose wire or a replacement part. With that of no good, Leia turned to the little storeroom and searched the emergency supplies all Alderaan ships came with. She found a special camouflage tarp that was made of special reflective material that transformed its color to the terrain of whatever landscape it was surrounded by. Leia knew exactly what she would do now.

Getting Threepio’s help, they were able to conceal the ship with the tarp. Thankfully it didn’t look like there were any pursuers in the sky while they were doing so, so that was at least a relief.

Next, they went about removing Zanoo’s body and wrapping him in another tarp, which they laid outside the ship. There was no way to bury him, not thanks to the impenetrable field of stone they were stranded on, so Leia kept the body covered with another tarp she found and said a little Alderaan prayer for him, which Threepio translated into Zanoo’s native tongue of Bothawooi. There were many tears Leia shed while doing this, for Zanoo had been one of her favorite teachers. She'd need to contact his family once they were rescued and give her condolences to them.

Once she'd been given her own time to grieve him, the two debated on what they would do next.

Being the adult figure, even if he was a droid and he was more accustomed to receiving orders rather than making them, Leia looked to Threepio for guidance on their situation. All he had were statistics and the best course of actions to make in worst-case scenarios. Still, it was more than Leia had, so she chose to listen to his input.

It didn’t look like there was much of anything in any direction, so leaving the ship to find help probably wouldn’t have been wise. The best thing to do in a situation like that was to stay put until help came. They had supplies to last for two weeks. More than enough time for a rescue team to be organized to come and search for them, and as the princess of Alderaan, the odds of them being found were very good.

Leia sighed and settled into the spaceship hoping beyond hope that Threepio was right.

* * *

Seventeen days. Seventeen whole days had passed since they had been stranded.

Her food was running very low and the remaining power reserves had only twelve hours of life remaining. Not only that but the terrain of the planet had changed somehow. Outside the temperature was rapidly falling. On this planet when the air got cold, strange statues of enormous ice crystals began to grow out of the ground. Leia thought they were actually very pretty when she looked out the window, but their formation meant that survival would be that much more difficult and harder to be seen. While their ship was equipped and well-insulated to withstand extreme conditions, especially in the depths of space, it was still damaged and the power reserves would be drained in no time.

Leia herself was growing weaker. The days stuck inside the space craft had not been good for her. She was restless and yet lethargic all at the same time, desperate for some kind of distraction and with her only companion being a protocol droid who was such a worry-wart, it was difficult to stay positive.

She tried to pass the time by reading through the few books she had taken with her on this journey, but it wasn’t meant to take up more than a day of her time so she hadn’t bothered to pack more. She’d finished all three of them on the very first day.

After the first week, Threepio had suggested she ration her limited food and Leia had agreed it was a good idea, especially when her hopes of being found were lowering by the day. She had also begun to limit the internal power usage. The temperature outside was low, but not enough that the ship couldn’t remain properly insulated without the heat, so she turned it off at night and kept the temperature at fifty degrees during the day.

Threepio needed his own store of power, and it wasn’t fair to use it all for herself when the droid needed his maintenance just as much as her.

“We’ll be out soon, Princess.” Threepio had told her later that evening. “You should take what remains of my own battery and conserve it for a few more days.”

“No. I don’t want to be alone here.” The idea was terrifying. He might have been a bit annoying, but it was far worse to think she could be alone here than put up with his depressing statistics.

“It’s alright, Princess. I can always be recharged. You need whatever supplies you can get.”

“No. I’ll… I’ll reduce my intake. I’ll stay under the blankets from now on. I won’t use any more power from now on.”

“No, Princess—,”

“It’s already decided!” She announced stubbornly. Once Leia made up her mind about something it was very difficult to sway her from it. “I’d rather have your company and be a little chilly, than be warm without it.”

The droid gave in, having enough experience to know by now that it was very difficult to persuade her. “Oh… very well then.”

Her decision bought them another three days before Threepio announced his power would soon be depleted in a mere thirty minutes.

Leia was freezing. Her whole body stayed constantly huddled under a cocoon of clothes and blankets. But not just freezing, she was starving as well. Her food was down to a package of crackers and single unopened can of tea.

Her head rested on Threepio’s lap, even if it was hard and cold, at least she had a little cushion made from a shirt to keep her skin protected from the frozen metal. She didn’t mind the cold, the cold was everywhere now, she just needed the comfort from her friend. His hand rested on her mound of blankets where her shoulder was, giving her reassurance with its weight.

“I’m… sure we’ll be found soon.” Threepio tried to console.

“Yeah… soon.” Leia repeated, but she knew better, now. “Threepio?”

“Yes, Princess?”

“Do you know any stories?”

“I um… well maybe one or two.”

“Could you tell me one?”

“I’m not gifted in storytelling, but I will try…”

Threepio began a story of a boy on Tatooine who loved to pod race, describing the sport to Leia in great detail. It sounded so fun to her and she imagined the heat of the warm desert planet as well as the excitement such a thing must have felt.

After a while Threepio’s voice stopped and when she looked up she saw his eyes were dim and he slouched in his seat.

His power reserves had run out at last. Now she was truly alone.

Frightened she burrowed deeper under her blankets and tried her hardest not to cry from terror.

“Someone,” she whispered desperately into the force that governed the universe. She used all her might, clasping her hands much like in prayer with the belief that maybe, just maybe it would help. “Someone, please, _please_ help me.”

With her eyes closed, she felt a sensation she originally thought was just the feeling of falling asleep. She envisioned darkness, thick unbearable darkness. And then she spotted something in the distance. A small golden light that beckoned to her.

“Hello?” She called urgently. For some reason she had the impression that the light was somehow alive and her thoughts were confirmed when it answered her.

“Who’s there?”

“Hello! I’m here!” And before she knew it, she was rushing to the light till she began to make out an outline within the beam. When she was close enough, she realized it was of a boy her age staring back at her. There wasn’t much she could tell about him other than he was human, had sandy blond hair, and wore loose white clothes made of some kind of light material, perhaps something like what people wore who lived on sandy warm planets like Jakku or the planet Tatooine, Threepio had talked about.

The boy gazed at her in wonderment when she approached him. “You… you’re glowing!” He blurted.

Taken aback by those words, Leia looked down at her hands and discovered that the boy was telling the truth. She _was_ glowing, just like him, only her light was a shimmering silver color.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Leia—Princess Leia Organa of the planet Alderan. Who are you?”

“Luke. Luke Skywalker. Why are you in my dream?”

Leia didn’t answer him, confused in her own right because she was quite sure that if anyone was dreaming it was her, but the desperation in her was so strong that she was willing to try anything if it would help her, even if it was just in her head. “I’m… I’m in danger!”

“Danger? What’s wrong?”

“My ship was hit and crashed on one of the moons of Trul. Zanoo was killed and Threepio lost power. I’m all alone and I think I’m going to starve or freeze to death. No one knows where I am. Please help me, Luke Skywalker. You’re my only hope!”

“I don’t really know who you are exactly, but I want to help. What do you need me to do?”

“**Who’s there**?!” The two children jumped simultaneously when a new voice interrupted them. It had been deep and frightening, cutting through their conversation like a knife. The two turned in the direction they had thought it had come from, but all they saw was emptiness. Then the voice spoke again. “**Who are you**?”

“Who are _you_?” Leia countered, for she disliked being ordered by anyone.

“**_I_ am the one who will ask the questions.**” The voice announced dangerously. “**Who are you two and how have you come to invade my vision?**”

“We’re not invading anything!” Leia retorted.

“Yeah!” Luke, added. “And I’m pretty sure this is still my dream, even if it is there weirdest dream I’ve ever had.”

“**SILENCE!**”

The Force of the order was so strong and sharp that the two children were frightened enough to fall silent at once.

“**You will answer my questions.**” The voice hissed sinisterly. “**Or remain here where you cannot escape.**”

“No. This is just a dream!” Luke announced stubbornly. “And I’m going to wake up! So there!” And like that Luke was suddenly fading away.

“No, wait Luke!” Leia called desperately reaching for the boy and taking his hand. “Don’t leave me here alone.”

He looked at her when she gripped his hand, holding it and pinning him with an expression that begged him to stay. His form began to solidify once again.

“Please, you said you’d help me.”

“I… I…”

Then the world seemed to change suddenly. The peaceful empty darkness began to crack just then, like it was tinted glass shattering before their very eyes. From the cracks came a bright red and orange glow which reminded Leia of molten lava pushing through stone or obsidian. The darkness everywhere was being consumed by whatever this was and soon the dark world was enveloped in the terrifying red and orange glow.

Leia’s hand on the young boy beside her tightened in fear and she felt a responding squeeze from himself as they gazed around in terrified awe.

“What’s happening?” Luke breathed.

Leia had no answers for him. This was even more ludicrous than she could have imagined. In only a few seconds their little black world was gone entirely, engulfed by a scene of a sea of hot boiling lava. Above them were dark clouds, the vapor of poison, steam and gas from the molten floor they were somehow suspended over and standing in their way, was a dark and terrifying figure.

As far as they could see the being had no apparent facial features nor other distinctive qualities other than being a body made of the same stuff below them, yet the lava that made up his form swirled in strange spiral shapes. And there was the matter of his… limbs. While his torso was black and burning, his arms and legs glowed a bright white and were transparent somehow, as if they were ghosts on this strange scorching demon before them.

His hand lifted just then balling into a fist as he looked down at the two children and the remnants of the black world crumbled away entirely.

“**Your opportunity to escape has vanished now.**” The being said. Though it would have been an excellent time to be smug, there didn’t seem to be any emotion in his deep metallic voice. “**You will answer my questions this moment.**”

“We won’t be bullied!” Leia announced stepping forward. As a princess she knew better than anyone how to stand her ground and know when enough was enough. “Leave us be.”

“Y-yeah…” Luke said, though he sounded less confident than Leia wanted. “L-leave us alone!”

“**I think not.**” And like that, the figure’s hand raised and Leia felt her grip being tugged out of Luke’s hand as she felt herself lifting into the air. She barely had time to gasp before she was beside the smoldering being, held in place by some kind of magic and an obvious threat of what he was capable of. “**As I said before, you will answer my questions or drastic measures will be taken.**”

“Stop!” Luke cried, sounding panicked and close to crying. “Don’t hurt her! Just leave us alone.”

“Who are you? Why are you doing this?” Leia demanded, hoping to divert his attention somehow.

“**You are not asking the questions,**” the being said and his invisible hold over her body tightened somehow, demonstrating how much control he had over them. “**You are answering them.**”

“Stop! Stop please! I’ll tell you whatever you want.” Luke blurted with frightened tears in his eyes. “Just put her down and stop hurting her!”

The dark one paused but complied after a moment and Leia seized the opportunity to rush back to Luke’s side where she felt a modicum better with her peer by her side. And with that the interrogation began at last.

“**Now, who are you?**”

“Luke Skywalker.” The boy answered. Somehow this seemed to startle the being, or at least as much as they could tell from his jerk of surprise and how the glowing yellow eyes widened as if in shock.

“**Skywalker? No, you lie! What is your real name?!**”

The boy was confused by the being’s rejection. “It’s… Skywalker.”

“**It can’t be!**”

“Why can’t it? Why would I lie about that?”

There was no answer the being seemed to have for that rebuff. “**Who are your parents, then?**”

“I don’t know. I live with my Aunt Beru and my Uncle Owen. We’re moisture farmers.”

This news shook the creature more as it stumbled back, utterly shocked by the boy’s news somehow.

“**No… it can’t be…**”

For a long moment the creature seemed to wrestle with the boy’s answer until its attention turned back to Leia and he stabbed a finger at her.

“**You then! Who are you?**”

Her mouth pursed in stubbornness. Even if this beast frightened her, she wasn’t going to please it by putting up with this kind of behavior. How would her aunts say it? It was completely inappropriate. A second later the lava seemed to swirl around him dangerously and it looked like any patience he had before was spent up entirely. "**DO NOT MAKE ME REPEAT MYSELF!**"

“Leia—Leia Organa.” She relented at last.

The lava stopped swirling and the creature looked thoughtful now. “**The Princess of Alderan.**” It wasn’t a question but Leia nodded all the same. “**How did you come to be here then?**”

“I… I don’t know. I just… needed help…”

The being was quiet for another moment. “**Are they your birth parents?**”

She bristled by the question. Her parents had told her when she was old enough that they had adopted her as a baby but that didn’t seem like it should have been this creature’s business one bit. “How does that matter?”

“**ANSWER ME!**”

She hated how frightened this monster made her. She hated how meek he reduced her to. “…No. I’m adopted.”

“**How old are you two?**”

“I’m seven.”

“I’m seven, too.”

His attention was diverted yet again as he contemplated once more. This time his thoughts were voiced out loud. “**…Could there have been two then?**” From behind the man their eyes were drawn to a little fluttering something, the children first mistook to be a glowing cinder. As it moved though, they soon realized it was some kind of fluttering insect, like a glowing blue butterfly. The being didn’t seem to notice though as once more, his attention snapped back to them. “**Where are you?**”

This time they both hesitated in answering, exchanging uneasy expressions. They knew the dangers of talking to strangers and, true they had already talked to him quite a lot, but their names and ages were one thing, telling him where they were seemed so… risky, and by now they were well aware that he was obviously dangerous.

“**TELL ME!**” He roared and the lava swirled even hotter around him. This might have been a dream but they still felt the impeding danger of the scalding liquid on their skins as if it were real.

“TATOOINE!” Luke shouted fearfully. “I’m on Tatooine.”

“**And you, Princess?**”

“I’m not telling you! I might not know who you are, exactly, but I know one thing for certain; you’re a villain!” She announced and with her declaration she took a step away from Luke and puffed up to her full height. There was no way she was telling this _thing_ where she was, for now she understood just how very helpless she truly was. Whatever this creature was, he was evil, and the last thing she wanted was him anywhere near her.

Much to her surprise, she was not met with fury like her earlier rebellion had be answered with. This time the creature contained his wrath and another glowing butterfly seemed to flutter around the intimidating specter, though it didn’t look like he noticed. Somehow, Leia wasn’t sure if that was better.

“**You called out to us because you are in a dire circumstance. You need help wherever you are, your desperation is what brought you to this plane of existence. If I wish you peril I need only to dissolve this vision and leave you to die in whatever wastes you’ve been stranded in. Your very survival depends on my aid alone. _I_ am your only hope.**”

Leia’s voice caught in her throat as she spotted his logic. Her eyes looked over to Luke in desperation. Surely that monster wasn’t her only hope. Luke could help her… couldn’t he? But he was a boy all the way on Tatooine who lived with his aunt and uncle and were simple moisture farmers. The likelihood that her message would be sent through the proper channels in order to rescue her in time was… unlikely. Plus, who would truly believe that a little boy received a call for help from an alien princess in a dream? Even to a child, that sounded silly.

The temperature was getting worse by the day and her food was almost gone.

There was no other choice.

“I don’t know where I am exactly.” She answered in defeat. “My tutor and I were going to Trul for a negotiation lesson, but we were shot down by pirates, I think. Threepio said we might be on one of the planet’s moons.”

“**Describe it for me.**”

“There’s an atmosphere, so I can breathe alright and it was all flat rock and stone when we crashed, but the terrain has changed. When the weather got cold, big ice crystals began to sprout up all around. The sky is always cloudy and it gets below freezing at night time.”

He thought about it for a moment, like he was comparing it to other moons that matched her description before nodding curtly. “**I see then. Very well. You’ve called for aid and I will answer it in kind. Have no fear, Princess, we will see each other very soon. As for you, Luke,” **The boy stiffened at the sound of his name and the creature’s voice dropped an octave, clearly meaning to sound threatening, though it took very little effort to do that. **“You will tell no one of this exchange. Remember, I am perfectly aware of your name, your home, and your family. It would be terrible if I was angry when I saw you next time. And those who know my name know that you should never want me on your planet.**”

“But wait a minute, who are you?” The boy said, voice trembling. Even at seven years old he could clearly see the veiled threat the monster had made.

“**I will tell you when we meet again. For now, I must leave if I intend to you help you, Princess Leia.**”

And with those final words the fiery world faded away as that peaceful black void they had first emerged in came back into focus. The butterflies that had fluttered around the specter lingered a bit longer before the final trace of the fiery world was gone. Both the children’s individual lights were back and there was a strange comfort and reassurance the two took from the other’s.

Right then the full weight of the situation fell down on Leia and she collapsed with the horrifying danger she realized she was in. That thing… that monster was coming to get her. Her seven-year-old brain was reeling from the terror of the idea and how very helpless and vulnerable she realized she was. Luke tried to comfort her, offering her a reassuring hug.

“Who… who do you think that was?” Leia whispered, trembling against the boy.

“I don’t know."

"I wonder if it was… a Sith?”

Leia swallowed. She didn’t know much about Sith, no one really did, other than that they were force-weilders like Jedi only the Jedi were all extinct now. But… that thing… whatever it was didn’t look like either of them, at least not according to the holographs she’d read of. So, who was it? The uncertainty was what put her most on edge than actually knowing what sort of monster was coming for her.

“I’m scared.” She whispered and she hated herself for the confession for she was not easily frightened. Yet who could possibly blame a child for that?

“It’s okay,” Luke tried to console. “He said he wasn’t going to hurt you. He said he wouldn’t bother trying to find you if he wanted to do that.”

“But he’s still coming for me.”

“Yeah… but you’re a princess! Princesses are important. Surely he can’t hurt you if you’re a princess.”

Leia sniffed and sat back up, feeling a little better with those words. “I—I guess not.”

“Yeah… because he could get into big trouble if he did that. Right?”

“…Right.”

There was an uneasy pause as they individually tried to convince themselves of the point Luke had spoken of.

“How long do you think it’ll take that…_ person_ to get to me?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he’ll bring some food.”

She paused in thought to that. “I wouldn’t say no to a Kelptian burger and some fried porps.”

“I thought princesses ate things like caviar and nebula cakes.”

“Only on birthdays. What do you normally eat?”

“There’s not much to choose from in a desert, but we’re moisture farmers so there’s a bit more variety for us. My aunt’s porridge is good and we grow our own fruits and vegetables. We get bantha milk from Mos Esla, too. We have it with cereal.”

They talked long into their dreams and Leia felt a deep peace enter her while their conversation proceeded. It took her mind off of the impending threat of that intimidating stranger and having Luke’s company filled her with a closeness she didn’t have with anyone but her parents.

“I… I have to wake up soon.” Luke soon realized. “Uncle Owen will want me to do my morning chores.”

“Will you find me if… when you go back to bed?” She asked looking back at him desperately.

“Yes. At least… I’ll try to. I’m wondering if I should just tell Uncle Owen. Maybe there’s still something we can do to help you.”

Leia was tempted to encourage him to, but shook her head in the end. “No. You heard what he said. If you tell anyone, he could hurt you or your aunt and uncle. He knows where you live and he knows your name. As a princess, I can’t in good conscious let you put yourself in that kind of danger for me, especially when we don’t know anything about him. He could be anyone for all we know.”

“But what about you?”

“I trust… the importance of my status to protect me. It’s very dangerous to kill royalty without just cause. He could start a war if he did that.”

“Okay then. I still wish I could do more, like maybe bring you something in here. Some food or some blankets to help you.”

“You’re doing all that you can. Thank you.”

Just then another voice echoed through the dark, but it was muffled and hard to understand. Perhaps it was Luke's uncle like he said, coming to wake the boy up. And then like that, Luke’s light began to dim as he vanished from sight. Leia felt a serge of terror. She hadn’t realized just how much Luke’s comfort and company meant to her until it was gone. Now that she was alone, it was just her inside the dark empty universe, and it was too lonely for her to bear.


	2. Rescued

The moment she was back in her body she quickly wished she could return to that strange black world. At least there she couldn’t feel her frozen fingers and toes, or the ache of her empty stomach or the hard bench that chilled her whole body where she lied, even with her warm cocoon around her. She didn’t want to leave her small little bit of warmth.

But she had to move. She had to eat.

Her little meal didn’t last long and wasn’t much. Only a few crackers and a chug of hot tea, heated instantly when she pulled the tab on the can it was sold in. Thankfully it was thermally insulated with advance packaging materials so it wouldn’t cool, not even in below zero temperatures. A small blessing.

Her few crackers kept her alive but the meagerness felt like it only added more to her hunger. All she wanted to do was stuff the whole package in her mouth. But that was stupid. Even a seven-year-old knew that was completely stupid. She didn’t know when her “rescuer” would reach her, and scolded herself for not asking where he was to at least give her some idea of how long the journey would take. But then she sighed and wondered if that would even matter. He hadn’t told them his name, why would he tell them where he was?

A waste then, so what difference would it have made to even bother?

* * *

The second day of her wait she ate only two crackers and one chug of hot tea. It was torture not to allow her body more and her stomach screamed at her for the denial, but she tucked it away all the same, cringing as her stomach growled in fury.

The night before she had tried to contact Luke the way she had managed before and was met with success… for a while at least. The boy comforted her the best he was able to, offering her reassurances and trying to keep her mind occupied from thinking about her starving body or the freezing air. This time when she entered the black plane even her outward appearance looked a fair bit worse for wear. Luke’s expression was stunned upon seeing her in such a state, when before she had appeared so regal and, well, princess-like. Now she looked much more defeated.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s very, very cold.” Was all Leia could say.

With her words Luke sat down with her, offering an embrace in an attempt to circulate heat, even if it wasn’t real. “It doesn’t get cold on Tatooine much. Desert planet and all that. Maybe once you’re rescued, you’d like to visit here and see me.”

“I’d love that. I could use a desert vacation after all this.”

“Won’t be much of a vacation. Tatooine isn’t great for tourism. I’d much prefer to see Alderaan.”

Leia managed a laugh which instantly became a terrible cough. She hacked and gasped so badly that her own body yanked her out of the vision it was in to bring her tumbling back into the physical world where her body shivered and throbbed till she fell into a painful freezing sleep.

* * *

On the third day Leia had no strength to eat the rest of her crackers, which were two and a half in total, nor summon the energy to drink the rest of the tea. Her body was too occupied with shivering and her lungs made each and every breath a heavy task. It was while she was wrapped in the small blanket shivering uncontrollably, when a horrible thought entered her mind.

What if the man or monster or whatever that thing had been to promise to rescue her, planned never to do so? What if he had told Luke not to tell anyone of their interaction so that he could be sure there really was no one that was coming for her. What if the creature designed it that way so she would die forgotten and alone somewhere no one would ever find her?

The thought numbed her. She couldn’t summon the energy the be terrified by the idea. All she felt was defeat.

So, the monster had left her to die then. If she were in better condition, she would have cursed herself for being that stupid and gullible. Right now, though, she could only hope that her death would come soon. Starving to death was painful but perhaps she would freeze before that happened. She had heard it was one of the more peaceful ways to die. A being merely drifted off to sleep, and for the most part, that was that. It wasn’t so bad… not so bad at all.

Leia closed her eyes, feeling the edges of darkness pool in her vision. Maybe she would dream while she faded away. And it looked like she was.

She dreamt of the strange daunting figure from her vision coming for her, entering through the hatch of the broken ship and coming closer, his massive transparent white hand stretched out and touching her face, trying to illicit a response of some kind. At least that’s what she assumed it was trying to do. Dreams weren’t always clear after all, voices even less so sometimes.

_alive_

_Leia_

_stay awake_

They were mere words with no meaning. Random and without concern. She just paid attention to the dream. She dreamt of her papa lifting her up like she fell asleep listening to him tell her stories before tucking her in bed, and the bed she was on bobbed across a sea of fiery hot lava. Above her the offset voices continued to speak, but their words held no real meaning over her. It all sounded like simple random gibberish.

_will not die_

_the force will decide_

_very strong after all_

_a few days_

_father _

_brother_

_a few days_

Leia stopped paying any mind to them and allowed the current to carry her warm little bed far, far away.

* * *

It was warm. Nice and soft and warm. But it wasn’t her bed. She knew right away it wasn’t. The sheets were different. The weight of the blankets was also different. And the heat in her room was very different. Back in her home of the Alderaan palace, Leia preferred her room just a bit chilly to enjoy the weight of heavier blankets over her. In this bed, the sheets were strangely cool and the blankets were light, a stark contrast to the intensely warm room.

Warm… she didn’t remember being warm. The last conscious thing she could remember was being abandoned to freeze to death on some nowhere moon.

That thought prompted her eyes to open. When her vision cleared there were two things she definitely noticed. One: she wasn’t in the space shuttle where she was most definitely not dead. Instead she was in a bedroom. Simple by design with a color scheme mainly consisting of black and grey but had occasional accents of red. Two: she was definitely not out of danger, and she knew that the moment she looked out the huge triangular window to the new planet she now found herself on.

The whole landscape was covered in lava, swirling, scalding, red-hot lava. It reminded Leia of the vision she had had of the monster and with that thought she suddenly knew he had found her after all, and wherever she was most likely was a base of his. She swallowed nervously and wrapped the thin blanket tighter around herself. She wasn’t cold, but feeling it surround her gave her a sense of safety despite how very unsafe she felt. It was the closest she could get to a comforting hug at the moment.

Or was it?

The hiss of an automatic door sliding open alerted her instantly and she watched as a droid and a cloaked man walked in.

Leia tensed immediately feeling a wave of flight or fight instincts kicking in. The droid didn’t worry her but the man certainly did. He was old and hunched with a wrinkled face and beady eyes. He put her immediately on edge especially when he smiled to her, looking delighted.

“It is so good to see you awake, honored child of my lord.”

“Uh… thanks.” She said, because she had no idea what else to say. It was an understatement to say she was afraid, but she had to keep a level head right now. That’s what her parents taught her. If she didn’t understand a situation she should never, ever panic, it was just best to stay calm and wait for answers. “Um… what planet is this?”

“This is Mustafar. You are in the castle of your father, young one. We are so pleased to see you awake at last. It is very fortunate he found you in time. You were close to death, but my lord is powerful and was able to keep you from succumbing to the ice thanks to his power—and your own, of course. You yourself are indeed very powerful to have survived for the length of time you already managed in that wasteland you were trapped on.”

The man’s words confused her just as much as they concerned her. What in the galaxy was he talking about? Her papa didn’t have a castle on this planet—this Mustafar--she was certain. If he had other properties it wouldn’t be in the middle of nowhere bang in the center of a volcanic world. Still, he was talking about her family so that meant she should be safe, right?

“Is… papa here now?”

“Your father will be back soon. He’s gone to fetch your brother.”

Okay, this was confusing her more and more. Could it have been possible that they had the wrong person?

“Brother? I don’t have a brother.”

“Oh no you certainly do.” His expression changed as he looked at her pityingly while in the corner of her eye the droid took out a scanner and swept it over her form to take a swift digital checkup on her. “I know this must be very confusing for you. Believe me I can imagine, but the treachery of the Jedi stretches across the entire universe. Even my Great Lord could not have predicted the depths of their betrayal; to kill his own wife and steal his children, separating them on opposite sides of the galaxy… simply reprehensible. They didn’t even have the decency to keep you both together.”

Now Leia knew that they definitely had the wrong person. But just to be clear… “Um… when you say “father”, who are you talking about?”

“Why, the great lord of the Sith, Darth Vader, of course.”


	3. Custody

The double sunset was always so beautiful. There were so few things on Tatooine that were but the sunsets could almost make up for that. It helped that their moisture farm was able to sustain more than just humidity vapors but vegetation as well.

Aside from regular fruits and vegetables that the Lars’ grew, Beru’s collection of flowers and desert cacti were her prized possessions and she cared and nurtured them each like her own sweet pets. Each a gift from various birthdays and anniversaries over the years. Her collection was probably nothing impressive from an other-worlder’s perspective, but she was proud of it all the same. Her little nephew was exceptionally helpful in caring for them with her. So happy to learn all there was about their cultivation.

The same moment he learned that plants could be hurt just as much as people could be, was the same moment he learned to be extra careful not to do anything to them that Beru hadn’t instructed him to do herself.

“You see, Luke.” She had told him. “They’re all different and they all need different things, different amounts of water and sunshine. Some plants can be planted together. Sometimes they even need other plants to grow even better. But other plants can be hurtful, so you have to learn which ones to keep separated and which ones to combine.”

“I like that one!” He said pointing to a bright prickly cactus with white flowers whose petals were tipped with red.

“That’s a holy blade cactus. The flowers can be turned into a cream to sooth burns and reverse infections, but the thorns are poisonous and cause swelling, so you have to be careful when you pick them.”

“How can it have flowers that heal but at the same time have poison thorns, Auntie?”

“A lot of plants do that, Luke. They have good parts and bad parts to them.”

“Just like people.”

“Exactly.” She smiled. “Plants aren’t so different from sentient beings. When you get down to it, we all need the same things.”

Beru sighed as she put the cactus back on the shelf. Smiling to herself as she told the little boy to get ready for bed. When he was in his pajamas and his teeth brushed, she tucked him in and got ready to tell him a bedtime story. Luke always liked stories about pilots and brave heroes who traveled the stars and other systems in the endless galaxy, but he’d diverted from those tales as of late and wanted to know about ice planets for some strange reason. He’d asked endless questions about them, mostly about how long a person could survive on one without other people.

Beru couldn’t understand the curiosity behind the concerns but she’d done her best to give him all the explanations she could. And then, even more curious, he had wanted to know about princesses.

“Are princesses smart? Could they last longer than regular people if they were stranded somewhere?”

Beru hadn’t known how to answer him but did her best just as she had done with his endless interrogation about ice planets.

“It depends on the princess,” She had told him. “But yes, most princesses are very smart. They’ve got to be in order to lead their people after all.”

Luke’s barrage of questions had just about no end, but eventually Beru was able to satisfy his curiosity for the night and get him to eventually fall asleep. Kissing him on the forehead she closed his door. As confused about his change of curiosities, she didn't dwell on it.

Down the hall, she found her husband in the main sitting room, the pieces of a droid on the table as he carefully went about trying to repair it. Beru crossed the courtyard to fetch her own evening projects for the night before remembering she had left them in the foyer. Right as she was picking up her tools, there was a knock at their front entry dome.

_Strange_, who could that have been at this time of night? Beru took the blaster from the cupboard where they stored them in case of raiders or Sand People attacks and approached the door cautiously, just about to glance through the spyhole. One could never be too careful in the desert on Tatooine. But before she reached the door, it opened right on its own. Stunned, the woman’s grip on the weapon tightened and she was aiming it directly at their intruder.

Yet the moment she caught sight of who it was, she knew instantly that it would do absolutely no good. In fact, her grip on the device just about failed her as her mouth dropped open and she stood there staring at the one person whom she prayed would never ever visit their home again.

“Where is my son.” Darth Vader demanded crossing the threshold and coming to stand directly before her.

“I… you… he…” Beru couldn’t think. The first and last time she had seen this man in their home he was fixing their shifter, grief-stricken over the loss of his mother. Now he was so completely transformed she couldn’t even believe it was the same person—the same man (more monster now if the horror stories of him had an ounce of truth) who was somehow part of her sweet little nephew.

The tales of Vader and his heartless exploits across the galaxy had reached even their little farm on this outer-rimmed planet. And the things they had heard stretched the belief of even _her_ wild imagination. Because how on earth could this be that sad Jedi boy who loved and lost so much in that brief time they knew each other and now hated everything in sight?

It just… didn’t seem real.

“I will not ask again. Where. Is. My. Son?”

“He’s asleep.” Beru said quickly, whispering despite her instinct to scream for help. Her heart was in her throat and a stab of overpowering terror and protectiveness came over her for her nephew. What did Vader want with Luke? What kind of life could he possibly offer the boy that wasn’t clouded by hate and violence? The Lars didn’t have much, but they had a healthy home with family and friends and opportunities to be better. How could Vader possibly think Luke would have been happy with him?

Maybe that didn’t matter.

“Vader!”

Both their heads snapped over when Owen’s voice called from the other side of the dwelling. Beru predicted her expression probably looked a lot like his own wide-eyed terror. “What are you doing here?”

“What do you think I’m doing here?” He nearly roared at him. “I am here for my son, whom you have hid from me for long enough.”

“We never hid him.” Owen explained and Beru was stunned to see that his fear had melted away just then into stubborn indifference. “All the Jedi have been exterminated. We assumed Anakin Skywalker was dead. Being Luke’s only family, we accepted him into our home and have raised him the best we were able.”

“You were told by who?”

“He gave us no name—” Owen was cut off instantly when Vader’s fist curled into a ball and raised in front of him. At the same time Owen’s own body was pulled into the air where he levitated right in front of the madman and his wife.

Beru’s heart quickened even more and she was unable to contain the small scream of shock thar came from her.

“The sloppiness of your lies is enough provocation to kill you myself. To be sure Anakin Skywalker is dead, but that does not excuse the fact that you hid a child of a known Jedi from the Empire and conspired with enemies of the state. I could execute you both for treason.”

Tears of helplessness and fear brimmed in Beru’s eyes. For sure they were about to become just another pair of Vader’s endless trail of victims. And what would happen to Luke when they were dead? What would happen to their sweet little boy?

“But I won’t.” Slowly Owen’s feet returned to the ground and Beru felt a breath of relief whoosh from her as Vader’s rage subsided. “I have come for only one thing; my son. I **will** have my children with me.”

“Children?”

“I have found my daughter, too. Luke is a twin. Did you not know that?”

Beru shook her head, but Owen said nothing. Apparently, there had been far more things Obiwan had confided in him rather than her.

“How did you learn of him?”

“That does not matter. All that matters now is that you fetch him so that he can be with his family. His true family.”

Beru tried her best to appeal to his better nature, if one even existed in him. “It’s the middle of the night and he’s asleep right now. Can’t this wait till morning?”

“I have been lied to for the better part of seven years, I don’t intend to wait any longer. Fetch him, or I will do it myself.”

“This isn’t about you!” Beru snapped making Vader’s head spin towards her, almost as if in shock. Owen’s eyes went wide in fear for her safety while the woman herself was a little stunned by her own forcefulness. But the words were out so she might as well finish her thought. “This is about Luke. If there’s even a shred of affection you have for him then please try and imagine what this will do to him. He doesn’t know you, but he has heard of you. Despite our efforts to protect him, your exploits across the galaxy have reached even this distant planet and he’s heard plenty about _you_, Darth Vader.”

The man had paused with her words. With the mask covering his face it was quite impossible to tell what the man was thinking, so the couple was reliant to try and guess by his body language, but even that didn’t seem to give anything away. Finally, the man moved to turn in the direction of Luke’s room.

“I will get him myself then.”

“No!” Beru immediately stepped in front of his path, momentarily forgetting the danger such a thing was. All she could think of at that moment was the terrible reaction her nephew would have to waking up and seeing this stranger standing in his room. “No! I—I’ll do it. I’ll get him.”

At least this way she could prepare him a little. Help him transition to the horrifying knowledge in whatever way she could. Vader really was as cruel as the rumors said he was.

The married couple exchanged looks with one another. Finally, Owen nodded and Beru left to wake the young boy up.

She entered his room quietly, going to sit on the side of his bed to wake him gently by rubbing his back and whispering.

“Luke, sweetie. You have to wake up.”

The boy stirred and rubbed his eyes, slowly coming to life again. “Is it morning already?”

“No, Luke, it’s still night time. You haven’t been asleep very long.”

“What’s wrong? Is it a Sand People attack?”

“No, there’s someone here to meet you.”

“To meet me? Who?”

Beru swallowed but continued as tactfully as she could. “Your father, Luke. He’s here.”

“My father?! I thought you said my father was dead.”

“We assumed so. But he’s here now and he wants to see you.”

Luke’s expression of excitement woke him the rest of the way and he just about leapt out of bed to rush out and greet the man he imagined excitedly.

“Wait, Luke. I need to tell you something about him.”

The boy paused when she rested her hand on his arm to listen. “What? What is it?”

“Well… your father is greatly changed. He’s not the same person he was when he was here last.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s been through a lot. You have to understand there are things he might feel… strongly about.”

“Like what?”

“Well… you know how Uncle Owen sometimes has his opinions about the Empire?”

“He says the Empire is a greedy Anzati suckling on the common citizen’s brains until they are mindless walking zombies.”

Beru stared at the boy in shock, momentarily forgetting the reason for waking Luke up in the first place in favor of the incredulous feeling she had with her husband and how she would need to have a serious talk with him about what was appropriate topics of conversation to have around their seven-year-old.

“Owen said that to you?!”

“No, he said that to Emmet Darklighter when he was visiting. Me and Biggs were playing with our skyhopper models and overheard them.”

So, he hadn’t meant for them to hear that. She’d still talk to Owen about it anyways.

“Yes… well, your father works for the Empire, so to speak, and he might not like that kind of talk.”

Luke considered it for a moment before nodding. “Okay. Can I see him now?”

Beru sighed but nodded leading the boy out by the hand. She gaged his expression when they came out of the hall and saw Vader standing by the moisture vaporators in the center of their courtyard. The boy was understandably stunned to see the Dark Lord of all people in their home and for the moment he couldn’t say anything before his gaze began to switch back and forth around the courtyard in hasty confusion.

“Auntie! Uncle Owen! Vader—that’s Darth Vader! Wait, where’s my dad? Where’d he go?”

“Um… Luke, this _is_ him.” Owen began gesturing to the Sith. “This is your father.”

“But… that’s…” His disappointment and fear was extremely evident and he took a fearful step closer to his aunt in response. “So… Dad isn’t a spice trader?”

“A spice trader?” Vader repeated incredulously. “That’s what you told him about me?”

“What were we supposed to say?” Owen demanded, rolling his eyes. “That his father is a Sith lord that exterminated the whole Jedi culture and is the figurehead of countless campaigns that did unspeakable monstrosities? Oh yes, certainly wouldn’t have resulted in any nightmares at all.”

Beru cringed with those words and wished her husband wouldn’t test this unpredictable man in such a way while also wishing he wouldn’t take such a tone around Luke either.

Her fears were proven sound when Vader stepped directly up to Owen, bearing down on him with fury lacing his tone. Beru’s eyes flicked uneasily to the lightsaber at his belt, hoping beyond hope that the Sith wouldn’t become enraged enough to use it.

“You will not say these things around my son.” Vader said lowly.

To his credit, Owen wasn’t afraid of his threat and kept eye contact with the black suited man. “We weren’t the ones to tell him. You think we wanted him to know about any of that? Gossip and rumors and bad bedtime stories have a way of sneaking their way into even the best intended shields. You did little to hide your exploits across the galaxy.”

“Uncle Owen…” Luke’s voice shook with dread as he stared at the two men and Beru could definitely understand his trepidation. Her own fear for her husband’s safety was steadily rising and she wished this encounter could just be over already. Vader’s head snapped around again, to view the expression of his son. Perhaps he wasn’t as empty and merciless as they initially assumed as the Sith stepped slowly away from the farmer.

“My son and I will leave promptly once his things are packed.” He announced as a final declaration to the two. “Be quick about it.”

Beru sighed again and took her nephew’s hand leading him back to his room. Silently she began to gather his things in a pack for him, instructing him to change out of his bed clothes and into something a bit more durable for the long journey he was making. While doing so, she tried to hide her tears.

“Auntie,” he said, noticing her sniffles. Hastily she tried to wipe away her tears. “Are you crying?”

“Yes sweetie.”

“Why?”

She turned to look at him before wrapping him up in a big hug. “I’m just… I’m just going to miss you very much is all.”

Luke returned it, holding on to her just as tightly. “I… I don’t want to go with him, Auntie. Can’t I stay here with you and Uncle?”

“I don’t think so, sweetie. I know it doesn’t seem like it but… your father has really missed you and wants you to be with him now.”

“What if I don’t want to be with him?”

She pulled back and took in his expression which was twisted into something stubborn and resentful.

“Oh, don’t say that, Luke.” Beru tried to say, even if she really couldn’t blame him.

“But it’s true. He’s Darth Vader. He’s done horrible things. I always wanted to visit other planets, but I never wanted to go if it meant I had to go with someone like him.”

“Maybe he’s not all what you think. Those rumors you heard could’ve just been rumors, or bad gossip. You know how the space pilots like to exaggerate sometimes.”

His eyes flicked back towards her but he didn’t say anything, so Beru continued to help him pack. She wouldn’t blame him for his doubts. Even she was having difficulty believing her own lies.

In time it looked like they had gotten everything he would need so they left the room and met Owen and Vader at the front of the entry dome where a large space shuttle was waiting. Thanks to the dark of night, Beru couldn’t distinguish its shape nor color very well, so she wasn’t sure what model it was, not she knew ship models to begin with. It had been completely silent when it’d landed, no doubt a product of expert manufacturing to give it an almost soundless engine. Very useful for taking an enemy or target off-guard.

Owen turned when he heard them coming. Luke looked from the ship and to Vader before turning to Owen, craning his neck to meet his uncle’s eyes. Beru knew her husband well and knew this farewell was taking everything in Owen to keep it all together. Though he was sometimes hard on the boy, the woman had no doubt that she loved him just as much as any parent loved their child.

“Well… it looks like this is goodbye, Luke.” Of all the ways to do this, Owen had decided to say it with a handshake. Beru wanted to snap at him, but held back as Luke was reaching for his hand in response. Just as he was about to take it in a formal shake, Owen bowed down and swept the little boy off his feet in a crushing bearhug. Despite the saddening mood, Beru just about wanted to laugh at how close Owen had made her really think he was going to leave things between them in a silly handshake. Her own arms joined theirs, wrapping around her husband and nephew in a large group hug.

The tears were back in her eyes and this time it didn’t look like she was the only one. Owen himself had similar drops of water running down his face and Luke, his face was pressed firmly into Owen’s tunic but judging by the sniffs that came from the boy, they could easily assume that he was in a similar state.

She hoped that wherever he was going, whoever he was with, he’d know that there would always be two people in this universe who loved him, fully and completely.

“Maybe I can come back and visit from time to time.” Luke offered, optimistically.

Beru and Owen both shared a chuckle. “Yes, do make sure to come and visit.”

“If you ever need anything, we’ll be right here.” Owen whispered.

“Okay.”

Vader’s emotionless voice interrupted the three, just then. “It’s time.”

Slowly, the family untangled from their embrace and Owen set the boy down back on his feet. Before Luke had even taken a step, Beru leaned down and gave his forehead a final kiss goodbye.

“We love you, Luke. Stay safe.”

“I will, Auntie.”

The woman leaned into her husband as the boy—their boy—followed the man up the ramp till he was out of sight. Almost immediately after the boy was finished ascending, the opening had closed and the ship was lifting off.

Beru leaned into her husband as they watched it go, and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, each of them doing their best to keep from crying.

Just an hour ago everything in their world was fine. Now an enormous part of them had gone away for possibly the last time they’d ever see him again. They just hoped Luke would be strong and that his sister, wherever she was would be there to help him.


	4. Introductions

It had been more than just a shock to learn of Luke and Leia’s existence. Vader had merely been meditating in his newly built castle on Mustafar when he’d felt a pull in the Force. It was not a pull he had been searching for but he allowed it just the same. These days all he had was the Force, so he allowed it to direct him as necessary.

He hadn’t been seated for more than ten seconds before he entered a completely dark world, not his normal mindscape at all. His mindscape was pure rage and pain, a reflection of the single world he owned. This new one was simply nothing. It was emptiness, darkness. The makings of a world that still needed to be developed. For as simple as it was, the energy in it felt strangely familiar somehow. In the distance were two small lights, one gold and one silver. One of them was the source of this mindscape and the culprit for dragging him here, he just wasn’t sure which one.

As he came nearer, he saw that they were both children. Impressive. This was intense Force sensitivity. Very few skilled wielders knew how to contact others through their individual mindscapes, and to do so when so young was an unheard of feat indeed. They could either become powerful allies or dangerous enemies. Most likely enemies he would dispose of once he learned of their names and locations. If there was one thing Vader didn’t want it was competition, especially if his master were to learn of their existences.

Sideous enjoyed toying with Vader and dropping hints (or really threats) of replacing him every now and then, there was no way Vader would allow two potential rivals to oppose him and impend his rightful place as second in command of the galaxy.

He hadn’t ever expected what would come next though.

After his intense interrogation of the two and receiving the most shocking news he’d heard since learning of Padme’s death, Vader quickly knew there would be no way he would kill them—no way he _could_ kill them.

His children. Leia and Luke. Twins.

They hadn’t wanted to know the gender of the baby nor any other details like that, preferring to be surprised when the delivery came. After Padme died, Vader hadn’t bothered to discover anything about it, hadn’t been able to. There was too much shame he held for it all. He hadn’t wanted to be reminded about the terrible thing he had done to his beloved and the child that had died with her—the one he was told died with her.

The knowledge that he’d been lied to hadn’t been as shocking as he first assumed it was, yet that didn’t stop him from being completely engulfed with rage.

But… if he had, maybe he wouldn’t have wasted so much time. After all, if he’d been there, his daughter wouldn’t have been dying at the moment. If… it even was his daughter, at least. The fleeting doubt didn’t live long, though. He would run the necessary tests just to be sure, but he was nearly positive it had to be his trueborn child. How would a child like that been able to deceive him, after all? How would she have known so much about him?

While in the mindscape he had felt their energy in the Force. He could feel both their strong connections and could also sense their power and how close it resembled his own, if just inexperienced. Their Force Bond was strong, one that could only be possible for close family, and what their father discovered about each of them troubled him. Leia’s life force was dwindling rapidly. It had taken Vader time to pinpoint where she was in the galaxy and how long it would take for him to reach her from his castle on Mustafar to the Trul system’s moons, and then figure out which moon she was on, exactly.

He didn’t know much about the Trul system, he’d never been there before, but that wasn’t going to keep him from his objective. He hadn’t been in his new castle for more than a day before he was calling for his fastest ship and entering her description of the moon into the database.

It was a very distant planet and would normally take him at least a week to get there, but thanks to the recent upgrades to the hyperdrive he may have been able to cut that time in half. The engine would be deeply overheated by the time they reached the planet, but that was a risk he was more than willing to take. They could take it easy on the way back, all that mattered right then was haste.

He needed to find his daughter. That’s all that mattered.

In the time it took to reach her, Vader remarked on his other child, his son, Luke.

While in the vision, Vader had initially wanted to fetch the boy first to catch him and his family off-guard upon his arrival. Luke was with others after all, and in the likelihood he might have regaled this encounter to his guardians, they could have organized within the time he was fetching his daughter and spirited him away from his grasp, possibly somewhere Vader couldn’t find him again. All he could do to be sure that could not happen was depart from their shared vision with his own threat, hoping it was enough to buy him time while he rescued his daughter.

The risk put him deeply on edge but there was nothing he could do about it. All he could do now was remain vigilant until he reached his destination.

When the moon detailed was in sight, Vader dipped below the thick grey atmosphere in his search. The landscape was just as the girl had described. Enormous pillars of ice crystals grew up from the ground in every direction. It was fascinating, he’d never seen a planet with this kind of cryo weather before. To have one day be a simple field of stone and then to have these tower-like pillars sprout up after another. The entire landscape looked like the inside of a geode cavern. Had the situation been less dire, it would have been very beautiful. Their search continued but if the landscape had been bare rock when her ship crashed, it could only mean that she was buried beneath the ice. Vader reached out, trying to sense her with all the power he had.

Eventually something called to him and he steered his ship in the direction it led him to. It was faint but still conscious somehow. Landing quickly, Vader exited his ship to find his sensors warning him of the deadly temperature drop outside. Thirty below, it read. If the girl was alive, she would be indeed strong with the force.

Vader discovered the hatch to their spacecraft in due time, frozen shut thanks to the large pillar of ice that blocked his way. Were anyone else attempting to rescue the girl, it would have taken hours to extract the chunk of ice and melt the door open. Thankfully for a Sith, it was no trouble to remove at all.

Inside the air was only a mere five degrees warmer, certainly no way a young human child could have survived. Ascending into the craft, Vader spotted her immediately, wrapped in a mound of blankets while she huddled on a bench near a gold-plated protocol droid who had lost its power. Vader gave the strangely familiar AI only a glance before he was rushing towards the child.

“Leia!” He said, taking her blue face between his hands and carefully bending it to make eye contact with him. “Leia, speak! I am here!”

Her eyes merely stared forward, hardly granting him so much as a flicker of life. However, it was her weak shallow breathing that managed a response for him. But it was far, far too weak to offer any type of reassurance that she would survive. Already she was so far gone. The one thing she couldn’t do right now was fall asleep.

“You are alive, Leia, my child. You will not die, but you must stay awake. You must!”

A large rasp in her breathing was her response, almost as if she were attempting to answer him to the best of her weakened abilities. Vader felt a small serge of pride for her strength and used a bit of his own powers in the Force to heal and aid her.

“You will not die. If the Force will decide it, then I will save you.” He promised as he hoisted her body up and gently held her against him. There were too many close loved ones he failed to save. His mother, his wife, but not his daughter! He refused to allow it! He took only a second to consider the droid before using his power in the Force to lift it from its frozen position and let it hover behind them as they ascended his ship.

He had brought only a team of medical droids with him on this mission. Of all the tasks that he had had to complete, this was the most important and the most secret. As far as these machines knew, the child was merely that; a child. There was no significance she had to Vader in the slightest and he was going to keep it that way.

The med droids quickly began working on her, removing the cold cloths around her and compressing her with steadily heating blankets, continuing its work even when Vader left to program the ship to head back to Mustafar where better treatment was waiting. After setting it to autopilot, Vader returned to the med bay and stood quietly as the droids continued to work. It looked like the girl had more than just hypothermia to heal from. There had been a feeding tube applied within that time as well as an IV drip. Her face was still very blue but according to the screens her core temperature was warming. In time it would be back to normal.

The days following the return journey, Vader scarcely left her side, determined to remain until it was confirmed she was stable and in no further danger of succumbing to death.

At last the main droid announced that she would have a full recovery, yet it would be a few days more before she woke. It was just as well because just as the droid announced her final condition, they had entered Mustafar’s atmosphere.

Vader hesitated on leaving her to the care of his servants, but there were thankfully none here whose loyalties were questionable and, Vaneȇ, his attendant and caretaker of the castle during his absences, was trustworthy. Already he knew many of Vader’s secrets. The man would do well to keep the nature of this one confidential as well even from the emperor--especially from him in fact. He knew what would happen if he didn’t.

Vader would have much preferred to wait till she awoke, but he could not delay in retrieving his son. He didn’t want to risk the boy alerting anyone, especially if Kenobi might have played a hand in hiding his children in the first place.

No… he needed to get this done quickly and quietly.

Vaneȇ would see to his daughter until Vader’s return.

* * *

Introductions with Luke hadn’t quite gone according to plan, but Vader was pleased by the Lars’ cooperation all the same, namely Beru’s efforts in transitioning the young boy to the knowledge that he’d be living with his father from now on. Their efforts to his care were commendable, and as appreciation Vader would allow them to live, despite their traitorous motives in doing so.

Perhaps he would punish them at a later date but killing them probably wouldn’t have been a wise decision, especially with Luke in his custody at last.

Vader had refused to watch their goodbyes with one another, feeling a boiling rage in him at the sight of it. He hated those people sharing intimacies with his son. He didn’t even know his stepbrother and yet that man had raised his son on the very planet Vader had wanted to never see again. A twinge of jealousy entered him at the thought in knowing that not only had Owen been given more time with Anakin's own mother but Vader’s son as well.

He could feel the boy’s eyes on him as he piloted the ship, catching the boy avert them quickly when Vader turned around. Luke kept a firm hold over his one bag his aunt had helped him pack, taking a strange comfort in its presence.

There was an intense feeling of awkwardness in the cockpit which set the Sith Lord on edge. Vader hadn’t felt awkward about anything in a very long time, for he moved with too much certainty. But he didn’t know what was certain about his children. They were two enigmas that required time in order to decipher. Thankfully he had time enough now that they were with him, though their was a fair amount of distrust radiating from the one in the cockpit with him.

Perhaps he ought to attempt a bit of damage control.

“I… hope you’ll like living with me.” He said to the boy. He didn’t respond but Vader felt an immediate reaction of intense emotions like fear, resentment, and disappointment. Apparently, this was not what the boy had wanted nor expected when he met his father. He hoped that in time Luke would come to view him with less bitterness.

“Your sister will be happy to see you.”

That got his attention immediately. “I have a sister now, too?!”

“Yes. Your twin sister. In fact, you’ve met her.”

“I have?”

“Yes. I wonder if you can guess who she is.”

“Guess?” The boy was quiet while he thought. “Is it… Leia?”

Vader almost smiled. It was good to know both his children were indeed strong with the Force.

“Your insight serves you well.”

“No, she’s just like the only girl my age I’ve ever met.”

Well… maybe not then. At least Luke had wit. That was… good?

“You were the one we saw in that vision.” Luke realized at that same moment.

“Yes.”

“Is Leia okay, now? She seemed really bad the last time we were talking. She coughed bad enough that she disappeared. I was afraid for her.”

“You both spoke after our encounter?”

“A few times. Leia was lonely so I kept her company when I could.”

“The bond you share is strangely powerful for how young you both are and with how little contact you’ve ever had with the other. There’s no need for you to worry further. She’s fine now. She’s being looked after at my base on Mustafar.”

“Where’s Mustafar?”

“It’s on the outer rim, further than Tatooine even. It’ll take some time to reach.”

“Is it nice there?”

“It… serves its purpose to me.”

The boy went quiet after that. After a while when Vader turned back to him, he saw the boy’s eyes were closed and he was breathing lightly, slouched in his seat. He supposed that was understandable. He had come in the middle of the night and it may have been well passed the boy’s normal sleep routine.

He activated the ship’s hyperdrive and it was a smooth trip the rest of the way.


	5. Denial and Acceptance

This was not good. This was very, very not good.

Darth Vader had been the one in her vision. He’d been the one to find her. He’d been the one to “save” her (if one could even call it saved while in his custody) and bring her here. The whole idea was crazy, because Darth Vader didn’t save anyone.

Vader was a monster; the fist of the emperor. Hardly more than a mad dog that needed a leash. Though his actions were made in the name of security for the Empire, Leia had heard the rumors, mostly from her father and his friends, that he did far more harm than actual good. And though she was not quite the sheltered princess most wished for (namely her parents and aunts), they had all tried their best to suppress some of the gorier details from the girl. Yet those she had learned of all the same.

His missions were the kinds of scary stories her friends told during sleepovers to terrify each other. Sometimes it was difficult to tell the embellished parts from the truth. Even adults confused the rumors from fact at times. Still all the horrible tales merely added to the armory of lesson plans adults told children to veer them in whatever direction they approved.

_You’d better behave, or Darth Vader will come and get you!_

While Leia liked to believe she was smarter and braver than most children her age, there was no getting around the fact that the tales of him had rightly terrified her. Some nights she had dreams or nightmares of this hollow devil and the viciousness he was famous for on anyone foolish enough to cross him. There were times they felt so real and while she was sure they had been mere figments in her mind, the feelings of horror were not something that was so easy to dismiss.

_You better behave, or Darth Vader will come and get you!_

There was never a need for her to fear those words since her mother and father never used such a threat on her the way some parents did, but now, they were the only things that echoed in her mind.

Vader… really came and got her and now she had no idea what he was going to do to her. She heard about the Jedi and the horrible extremes he had taken to exterminate them, not to mention the other missions he’d taken part in. His methods were beyond extreme, they were downright cruel, needlessly so. He’d put whole cities to the torch, blown up ships of children, ripped infants right from the arms of their mothers, drowned towns, and butchered villages. There were rumors that said he did some of those things, not for the sake of the empire, but just for _fun_.

And now… now he had some insane idea that she was his child. Leia was adopted sure, but there was no way in this universe she was his real daughter. There was no way in this universe that he was part of her like that. He was just a monster who didn’t care about anyone—he really didn’t. Maybe Leia was selfish sometimes but she wasn’t heartless nor indifferent to the suffering of others the way he was.

But what would he do if she were to try and explain how completely wrong he was about her to him? When she proved she wasn’t his daughter, what would that mean for her? Would she be allowed to go back home, or would something… worse be done to her?

What would he do to her?

Vaneȇ, the man who seemed to be in charge of her, only wanted to speak praise of his lord if he talked to her at all. Maybe he should just propose to the guy already. Thankfully he didn’t visit her often, which was a relief. Her main attendants were the few droids that came in and out of her room on occasion. Relief of all was the fact that Threepio was one of them. She was so happy to see him that she hadn’t been able to resist rushing up and embracing him around his metal middle.

Aside from conversations with the protocol droid there wasn’t much she had in there to do. She was bored, really, really bored. It was even more boring than being stuck in the ship all that time. At the beginning it wasn’t so bad, even when she knew Zanoo’s dead body was just outside. It was a lot like a camp-out in a way. Leia had even decided to build a little tent for herself in the middle of the ship, while a single lamp illuminated the area and she entertained herself by telling Threepio scary stories. Of course, it backfired a bit when she had managed to scare even herself somehow.

It had only begun to get really bad after the first week and the ice crystals had begun to grow as the temperature dropped. Leia’s hopes of getting rescued were soon dwindling while she wondered what on earth could have been taking them so long. She was a princess, darnet! Didn’t that warrant a little more haste?

But no one came for her. No one but this Darth Vader, who was convinced somehow that she was his daughter.

Oh, how in the galaxy could he have gotten that terrible conclusion?

Well when he got here, she’d just calmly explain why that wasn’t so, in the most diplomatic and reasonable way she possible could. Everything would be fine. Somehow…

* * *

Luke woke up feeling cold. That was strange. Tatooine wasn’t cold in the slightest, not even underground where their home was. It got cool sometimes at night, but never ever cold. Rolling over Luke opened eyes, before wondering where Aunt Beru was. She normally got him up in the mornings for breakfast before he had to do his chores, but there was no Beru and the room he was in, was not his sandy dug-out one back home.

It took him a long moment to remember the events from the night before, but when it began to slowly come back, he jerked back in surprise.

“Oh… right…”

Luke almost didn’t believe where he was. Most of it had occurred while he was still half asleep so he partly expected it all to have been some wild dream.

Because how could he possibly be the son of Darth Vader, the most feared man in the galaxy? And Leia… Princess Leia whom he had found a close friend in, was somehow his sister. Did that mean he was a prince then? But she said she was adopted. An orphan, like him. Or, he guessed they really weren’t, now.

Luke wondered what it would be like living with Darth Vader. He’d always wanted to meet his father and his mother, but Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru talked so little about either of them. Who were they? Were they nice? What were their names? What did they do? Why wasn’t Luke with them? How did they die?

They had come up with some stories for him, which he now realized were obviously not true. As disappointing as it was to know that they’d deceived him, the anger he thought would follow for the unforgivable deception did not rise. He realized that deep down he had never really believed them, it was just something to tell him so he would stop asking so much. Maybe it just hurt too much, the same way it sometimes hurt when he asked about Grandma Shmi and Grandpa Cliegg.

Well… he always wanted to know more about his parents… and his father was on the same ship. Maybe he could ask. Truth be told however, Luke was deeply afraid of him. Who could blame him thanks to the terrible stories many of the space pilots exchanged with one another? He’d heard someone say once that only a fool would claim they weren’t afraid of Darth Vader. Luke liked to believe he could be brave when he needed to be, but grown ups weren’t supposed to be afraid of anything, and even they were afraid of Darth Vader.

Well… he was still Luke’s father and if he really was going to live with him now then the boy should know more about him, shouldn’t he?

Taking a deep breath, he left the little room and went to look for the Dark Lord—no, his father. That’s what he was now. Luke’s father.

Luke found his father sitting at a bench and table while he read what looked like a holo-book. The boy wondered if it was a novel, hopefully a good one. When Vader noticed him hovering in the doorway, he put the thing down to speak more directly over to him.

“Did you sleep well?”

Luke nodded, feeling his mouth go dry and all his questions for the man seemed to vanish instantly at the sight of him. Luke wasn’t sure what it was, but the boy seemed to feel an intense energy coming from the masked man, one that set him instantly on edge. The man—his father, seemed to use a gentler tone with the boy, in what felt like an attempt to earn his trust. Luke wanted to trust him, he did, but he couldn’t stop thinking about all the terrible stories he’d heard.

Just then a droid appeared with a tray of what Luke suspected was food.

“Would the young master like some breakfast?” The metallic voice asked.

The boy nodded and the tray was set on the table across from Vader. Luke steeled himself to try and be as brave as he could muster, eager to show his father that he wasn’t scared while he walked over and took his seat. The food looked good at least. Some cereal with fruit and a glass of blue milk. That was good. He silently began to eat the food while Vader picked the holo-book and began to read once again.

Luke hated how quiet it soon got and if he wasn’t mistaken it almost felt like Vader disliked it just as much.

“Um… you’re grandma Shmi’s trueborn son, right?” Luke cheered inwardly upon finding a topic of conversation.

Va—his father, seemed thankful for it as well. “Yes, Shmi was my mother.”

“Owen and Beru said she was really nice. She and Grandpa Cleigg before he died, too.”

Thanks to the mask, it was impossible to tell what sort of expression the man had towards his comment, but his voice grew somewhat softer with the mention. “She was… very dear to me.”

“That’s good. I’m glad. Beru said she and Grandma were really close. I wish I could have known her.”

“She was something special.”

There was another long moment of silence before Luke offered another topic of conversation.

“I’m happy Leia will be with us. She’s really nice.”

“I’m happy for that as well.”

“Was she able to say goodbye to her parents?”

“Parents?” Vader sounded genuinely confused, before his tone soured into something restrained with anger. “You mean her kidnappers.”

“Kidnappers? No, I mean her mama and papa back on Alderaan. The queen and sena—”

“Luke,” Vader cut him off firmly. Luke immediately sensed he had touched a nerve and wished dearly he could go back and stop himself from bringing the subject up altogether. Yet his father continued in a far more composed tone for the boy. “Those people took Leia away from her true family, away from _you_. Being people of importance does not excuse what they are, nor what they did.”

Luke looked down at his food. “But… she talked about them so much and so nicely.”

Vader was quiet for a moment while he took his time to respond. “Leia will come to find an… acceptance for the truth. In time, she will understand what those people truly are and hopefully will be able to move past their influence over her.”

“Will they be punished?”

His father’s silence was frightening.

“Please don’t hurt them, Father! Leia loves them and if she could say goodbye to them, it could help her. Right now, they’re probably very worried about her!”

“If they were so worried, they shouldn’t have left her to die on a frozen wasteland of a planet!”

“They didn’t leave her, they just couldn’t find her.”

“One of the most prominent families in the galaxy, overseeing one of the most advance planets and they couldn’t manage to find their own princess?” Vader’s voice was bitter and Luke had a feeling of impending wrath coming from him.

“Maybe… maybe they didn’t know where she was going. She said that Zanoo was taking her to Trul with just Threepio, but I always thought princesses were supposed to have guards.”

Vader paused in thought to his assumption. The boy wasn’t sure what he was thinking but there seemed to be something about that detail that the man seemed very interested in.

“We’ll talk more about that later.” Before the boy could bring up a new topic of conversation, Vader did it for him. “Luke, I must ask you to keep whatever we discuss secret between the both of us.”

“Why?”

“I have many enemies across the galaxy. I’m sure you’ve heard one or two stories about them. They would love an opportunity to hurt me in whatever way they could. And if any of them learned that you and Leia are my children, they would try to hurt you in order to take revenge against me.”

“But we haven’t done anything bad.”

“That doesn’t matter. You’ll soon realize that not many people care about innocence.”

“If I can’t talk about it with anyone does that include Leia, too?”

“Leia and I… will have our own conversation when we get to Mustafar.”

“Okay.” After that, Luke finished his breakfast.


	6. Assurance

**Chapter 6**   
**Assurance**

Leia spent most of her time dreading the arrival of Vader. She had gone over what she intended to say to him over and over and over again, hoping and praying her discussion would go well. She needed it to go well so she’d be able to go home soon, that was her mission. When he got here she’d be diplomatic, as a princess was supposed to be. Her papa had said she needed work on that particular quality since she was known to be far better at arguing or provoking fights and conflict rather than finding compromises, especially among her peers.

She couldn’t count the number of times one of the snobby girls from school had prompted her to take some form of action against them, normally throwing something at them or spilling food or beverages all over them. True, it wasn’t very princess sort of behavior, but she believed her thoughts came across far better in those forms.

But this was much different than all those times.

She doubted Vader would take kindly to having a bowl of soup thrown at his face if she decided he was talking too much and shuddered at the imagery.

Calm. Diplomatic. Polite. 

Traits princesses were supposed to be. That’s what she had to be. Leia could do this, Leia had to do this. She was a princess and princesses were always attempted negotiating first. 

When Vader got back, she’d make him see, make him understand that she was not his daughter and he had to return her to Alderaan with her family where she belonged.

Vanee had told her it would take some time for him to return with her brother, whomever that was. Out of all the terrible news she’d been given so far, it was the only thing that lifted her spirit. She’d always wanted a sibling and would have jumped at the chance for someone like that to be close with, but since Vader wasn’t her father (she most certainly knew he wasn’t) then chances were that the boy arriving with him wouldn’t be her brother either. Although maybe she could talk to him first, get him on her side and try and convince Vader with his added help. Yes, that’s what she’d do.

She spent countless hours discussing it with Threepio about how she intended to explain it to him, making arguments and rehearsing a whole speech in the hopes that would convince him. The droid offered his suggestions where he believed they would work and Leia tweaked it as necessary. Finally, she felt like she was ready and waited nervously for the man’s return back to his castle. Of course, when Vader finally arrived it was late at night after Leia had fallen into a fitful sleep. 

The stress of the day had worn on her so much that she didn’t even hear the strange mechanical breathing of his raspatory system as he entered the room and deposited the small sleeping boy under the covers beside her. In fact, she stayed dutifully asleep until the first rays of orange light from the sunrise broke out on the horizon. Only that wasn’t the thing to wake her up.

“Leia? Leia, wake up.”

Her shoulder was shaken and her eyes blinked wearily open to glance into the face of a young boy beside her.

“Luke?”

“Hi.” He said giving her a small comforting smile. His face quickly changed to something like concerned while she sat up to face him. Leia was instantly awake with the shock at seeing him there, but he was already talking over her jumbled thoughts. “Are you okay? The last time we were talking you coughed really bad.”

“I’m fine,” she said to him, “but what are you doing here? Wait a minute… are you…”

“I’m your brother.” He said, confirming her thoughts before she’d voiced them. 

For some reason that statement seemed true to her and wasn’t as shocking as she partially expected it to be. She could easily believe that Luke was her brother somehow. It felt… right.

“Vader went to get you.” She realized. 

“Yeah. Father said we’re twins.”

“Father?” She frowned and shook her head. “Oh, Luke, please don’t tell me you really believe that.”

“It’s true, Leia. He is our father. I know he is. Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru said so.”

“How? How could Vader possibly be our father? That doesn’t make sense. We’re nothing like him and he’s nothing like us.”

Luke scowled a bit by her harsh judgement. “How would you know? You haven’t spoken to him.”

“Well no, I guess not.” She relented. “But since you apparently have, does he seem a lot like us?”

Luke went quiet by that, at a loss for an explanation. “Well… I don’t know. I’m not really sure.”

“Haven’t you been talking to him?”

“Yes.”

“So… is he nice?”

“Well…”

“He’s not nice.”

“It’s… hard to tell.”

Leia shook her head stubbornly. “He’s not nice. He’s a bad guy.”

“Not completely.” Luke said defensively.

“How would you know? Surely you’ve heard the stories about him.”

“Yeah. I’ve heard stories. But Aunt Beru told me it might not be what it seems. They might just be rumors.”

Leia looked at him with an “are you serious” expression. “Do you really think that? Deep down?”

There was a long moment of silence before his shoulders slouched in defeat. “No. I guess not. But I have sensed good in him.”

“You’ve _sensed_ good in him? How? Did you see him save a lothkitten?”

“No, but he saved you. Isn’t that good?”

“He saved me because he’s got it in his head that I’m his daughter, but I’m not. I know I’m not just like I know there isn’t good in him.”

“Well I think there is.” Luke said stubbornly.

“How?”

“I’ve just… felt it.”

“Well I haven’t felt it and I don’t think I’m going to feel it, and I know he’s not my father. He can be _your_ father if you want one that bad, but he’s not mine, and when I explain that to him, I’m going home back to Alderaan to my **real** father and mother, and if you’re smart you’ll find a way to get back home to your family, too.”

“But… aren’t you my family?” His words made her turn back over to look at his dejected face. “You don’t want me to be your brother?”

She sighed, regretting her words instantly. “No. No, that’s not what I meant. I… I didn’t mean it like that. If it’s true, I’d be very happy if you were my brother. My _real_ brother. I just want what’s best for you and I really don’t think it’s staying here with him. Even if they are just rumors, they spring from bits of truth. Do you really want to live with someone like that?”

He was quiet for a very long moment before answering her. “Maybe we should know the whole truth before we make any decisions like that. We don’t know what happened when we were born and maybe we don’t know the people who raised us as well as we thought we did.”

Leia still looked unsure. “Do you really think Vader is better than your aunt and uncle or my mama and papa?”

“I don’t know if anyone is better than anyone. I don’t have all the pieces.”

Leia opened her mouth to argue, but she couldn’t come up with a valid retort. She knew as much as Luke did about what happened the day they were born and it was true that stories and rumors through the net did have a way of getting lost in translation quite often. 

Luke decided to continue when she didn’t respond. “Maybe… maybe we just need to learn more before we make decisions like that.”

She hated to say it, but he did have a good point. She crossed her arms, but eventually huffed. “Alright. I understand. We’ll get more answers. But promise me something?” Leia’s face turned from her stubborn pout to one of imploring need. With an expression like that, Luke waited patiently and listened.

“If… if he is bad, promise me you’ll agree to run. To go back home where we’re safe, wherever home turns out to be.”

It seemed like such an important thing to her and Luke couldn’t argue that it was reasonable, so he nodded. “Okay, I promise.”

She smiled for the first time and leaned forward to hug him. “Thank you, Luke. I know its selfish, but I’m glad I’m not alone through this. I’m glad neither of us are.”

He smiled and returned her embrace. “Me too.”

When they leaned away from one another Leia looked back at him with curiosity. “So, what _is_ Vader like?”

Luke took his time to answer, searching for a word that would be adequate enough to describe the man. “Stern.” He finally decided on.

Leia frowned. “Stern?”

“Yeah. We talked a bit and he’s not like exactly like other grownups I know, but he doesn’t seem mean just… not used to kids, I guess.”

“Okay, well… I guess that’s not bad.”

They both jumped when the door opened suddenly and Threepio walked in holding some bundles. Even for the droid whose expression never changed, his voice was troubled as he faced the two children.

“Our host has requested you two change and meet him for the morning meal today.”

The children exchanged glances with that, Leia’s face was far more uneasy and a deep stab of anxiety hit her at the notion while Luke’s offered her some reassurance that nothing bad would happen. After one last moment’s hesitation, the two started to move, examining the clothes Threepio brought them. Leia noticed right away how dark and very black they were and so noticeably serious. Very different from the expensive and bright garbs she wore as a princess on Alderaan. In all honesty she had hated how flashy and cumbersome many of her gowns were but with this new one in her hands she missed the colors and the soft, warm fabrics her aunties and parents had gifted to her. She would have liked to refuse the request, but watching Luke obediently starting to change his clothes, Leia decided to follow his lead. She needed this meeting to go well and the best chance she had of it doing so would be to play nice… at least for now.

* * *

_**Author's notes:** Okay so I know it's been a long time since I've updated, but I figured I could give ya guys something for being so patient and all. I wanted to post this with the other bit I'm in the process of writing so I could give ya something worthy of your long wait, but I have yet to really figure out how the next bit is going to transpire. Please don't hate me._


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